Deena Payne – Viv Hope from Emmerdale

After brief appearances in The Bill, and TV Burp, the English actress/former singer Deena Payne was given a chance to portray Viv Hope in the Emmerdale soap. Hope was a hit and made it to over 1,070 episodes of the show between 1993 and 2011. Her character was known for being the backbone of the Windsor family and was killed off in a fire.

Following her departure from Emmerdale roughly ten years ago, Payne has been having difficulty finding new acting gigs, but she did appear briefly in Crime Stories and Doctors. During her time as a singer, Payne performed with the girl band Cats UK.